The clinical unit at Presbyterian Hospital provides excellent personalized care to nearly 300 patients with sickle cell diseases, both in Pediatrics and Medicine. The out-patient facilities are housed in two new and modern outpatient facilities: in Medicine in the Atchley Pavilion, in Pediatrics in the Harkness Pavilion. These facilities, specifically dedicated to hematology patients are, "single class" units. The patients feel special, removed from the crowded clinics of the Hospital and access these facilities frequently and freely. The clinical units have a core of professionals who have through the years generated close relationships with the patients. These include, besides physicians, nurse practitioners and social workers exclusively dedicated to sickle cell patients both in the out-patient and in-patient care. The unit provides education to the community, in cooperation with our very active self-help group (Sickle cell Organization for Self Help--SCOSH), offers counseling, encourages voluntary screening and facilitates prenatal diagnosis. Although the clinical unit "per se" is not designed to perform research projects, it provides patients and/or blood samples to the other components of the center. Clinical observations are collected and analyzed. For instance, the analysis of how cultural differences affect children's hospitalization rates will be continued, taking advantage of the presence in our clinical of two different ethnic groups: Afro- Americans and Latin-American.